0 2 4

C IÓ N2
E D I

Temario

LENGUA EXTRANJERA
INGLÉS

66
The cultural dimension of the English language
in the world. Differences between British
and American English.
Anglicisms.
The growth of the English language in Spain.
27-32311-13
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 3
66

INDEX

INTRODUCTION

1 British English and American English

1.1 English language in the world
1.2 English language in the United States of America
1.3 English language in the United Kingdom

2 Differences between British English and American English

2.1 Spelling and pronunciation differences
2.2 Vocabulary differences
2.3 Grammatical differences
2.4 Numbers
2.5 General trends

3 Anglicisms

4 The growth of English in Spain

CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

SUMMARY/OUTLINE
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 5
66

INTRODUCTION
The globalization phenomenon has led to major linguistic changes on a worldwide scale. English has
become the leading international language —or lingua franca— in economic and political spheres
and the common language of science, technology and culture regardless of age or social status.
However, regional and local languages are also making considerable headway, thanks to new social
interaction and economic backing from their governments. We are thus immersed in a multilingual
society, without communication borders or socioeconomic frontiers.
English is the international language of academic papers, newspapers, and magazines. American
radio, television, streaming platforms —like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, among others—
and blockbuster films export English-language pop culture worldwide. It is also the language of
technology, artificial intelligence (AI), advertising, media, and the Internet. Inside the devices, services
and applications, everything is dominated by English. Not surprisingly, both the global supply of
and the demand for English instruction are highly requested. Its expansive reach is undeniable and
unstoppable. Never before in human history has one language been spoken so widely and by so
many.
6 TEMARIO

1 British English and American English

The English language was first introduced to the Americas by British colonization beginning in
the late 16th century and early 17th century. Similarly, the language spread to numerous other parts
of the world as a result of British trade and colonization elsewhere and the spread of the former
British Empire, which, by 1921, held sway over a population of about 470-570 million people,
approximately a quarter of the world’s population at that time.
Over the past 400 years, the form of the language used in the Americas, especially in the United
States, and that used in the United Kingdom have diverged in many ways, leading to the varieties
(or dialects) now commonly referred to as American English (AmE) and British English (BrE).
Differences between the two include vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, grammar, punctuation,
idioms, dates, numbers, and so on, although there are fewer differences in writing than in speaking.
One particular contribution towards formalizing these differences came from the lexicographer
Noah Webster, who wrote the first American dictionary (published 1828) —based on the principle
that word usage should evolve from the spoken language— with the intention of showing that
people in the United States spoke a different dialect from Britain.

1.1 English language in the world

The English of the UK and the English of North America are the reference norms for English as
spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the world. For instance, the English-speaking members
of the Commonwealth often closely follow British English forms, while many new American English
forms quickly become familiar outside of the United States.
Although the varieties of English used in the former British Empire are often, to various extents,
based on standard British English, most of the countries concerned have developed their own
unique dialects, particularly with respect to pronunciation, idioms, and vocabulary; among them
are Canadian English and Australian English, which rank third and fourth in the number of native
speakers.

1.2 English language in the United States of America

American English written forms are fairly well standardized across the United States, and an unofficial
standard for spoken American English has developed as a result of mass media and of geographic
and social mobility. This standard —called General American English (Accent and Dialect) or
network English— does not come from any particular region, and it can typically be heard from
network newscasters, although local newscasters tend toward more colo(u)rful forms of speech.
Despite this unofficial standard, regional variations of American English have not only persisted, but
have actually intensified.
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 7
66

Regional dialects in the US typically reflect the elements of the language of the main immigrant
groups in any particular region of the country, especially in terms of pronunciation and vocabulary.
Scholars have mapped at least four major regional variations of spoken American English: Northern
(really north-eastern), Southern, Midland, and Western. After the American Civil War, the settlement
of the western territories by migrants from the east led to dialect mixing and levelling, so that
regional dialects are most strongly differentiated in the eastern part of the country that were settled
earlier. Localized dialects also exist with quite distinct variations, such as in the Southern Mountains
and the New York City area.

1.3 English language in the United Kingdom

British English also has a reasonable degree of uniformity in its formal written form. The spoken forms
though vary considerably, reflecting a long history of dialect development amid isolated populations.
Dialects and accents vary not only between the countries in the United Kingdom: England, Northern
Ireland, Scotland and Wales, but also within these individual countries.
There are also differences in the English spoken by different socio-economic groups in any particular
region. The educated spoken English of south-east England has traditionally been regarded as
“proper English”, also referred to as “Oxford English”, “BBC English” or “the Queen’s English”. This form of
speech —also known as Received Pronunciation (RP)— refers to a way of pronouncing standard
English actually used by a small percentage of the population, which remains the prestige accent
upon which dictionary pronunciation guides are based.
The BBC and other broadcasters now intentionally use a mix of presenters with a variety of British
accents and dialects, and the concept of “proper English” is now far less prevalent.

In order to compare colloquial English with more formal, literary or technical uses, refer to
units 18 and 19, Literary English; Scientific and Technological English, and Commercial and
Administrative English, respectively.
8 TEMARIO

2 Differences between British English and American

English
Most of the differences between British English and American English involve vocabulary,
pronunciation and spelling. However, there are also some differences in the way grammar is used,
including verbs, prepositions and adverbs.
Language is always changing, and many new ways of using vocabulary and grammar in British
English come from American English, because of the influence of American popular culture,
American media and the Internet.

2.1 Spelling and pronunciation differences

One of the most noticeable differences between British and American English is in the spelling of
some words. For example:
„„ Words such as “color” and “neighbor” in AmE become “colour” and “neighbour” in BrE.
„„ The American words “theater” and “center”, respectively “theatre” and “centre” in BrE.
„„ While “-ed” may be used in AmE for the past tense of a verb, “-t” is common in BrE: “dreamed” and
“dreamt”.

Many times, although words are spelled the same in both forms of English, they may have a different
pronunciation: the accent is put on a different syllable in the word. In general terms, speakers of BrE
have a more proper and distinct pronunciation of certain letters such as “d” and “t”.

XX Rhotic and non-rhotic speech

Accents which pronounce /r/ in final position (before a pause) and before a consonant are called
rhotic accents, while accents in which /r/ pronunciation only occurs before vowels are called non-
rothic (or “r” dropping). For instance, rhotic speakers pronounce the /r/ in words like “car”, “here”, “park”
and “verse”, while non-rhotic speakers generally do not pronounce the /r/ in these words.
According to Trudgill (2003):
„„ Rhotic accents of English include nearly all accents of Scottish and Irish English, most accents
of Canadian and American English, accents from the south-west and north-west of England,
some varieties of Caribbean English and a small number of New Zealand accents.
„„ Non-rhotic accents are those of Australia, South Africa, eastern and central England
(including BBC English), some parts of the Caribbean, and a number of places on the eastern
seaboard of the US and Canada, as well as African American Vernacular English.

2.2 Vocabulary differences

Some everyday objects have different names depending on the English variety (BrE vs AmE): “trousers”
vs “pants”, “flat” vs “apartment”, “university” vs “college”, “jumper” vs “sweater”, “shop” vs “store”, etc.
Most of the differences in vocabulary between British and American English are in connection with
concepts originating from the 19th century to the mid 20th century, when new words were coined
independently. Almost the entire vocabularies of the car/automobile and railroad industries are
different between the UK and US, for example. Other sources of difference are slang or vulgar terms,
where frequent new coinage occurs, and idiomatic phrases, including phrasal verbs. Regional
variations, even within the US or the UK, can create the same problems.
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 9
66

Because of the widespread usage of American English, many British people are starting to use some
American nouns to replace some of their British ones. So, a “lorry” is becoming a “truck”, and a good
example is the widely used “foodtruck” all around the world now.

XX Words with different meanings

The differences most likely to create confusion are those where the same word or phrase is used for
two different concepts. In practice, a small number of words have completely different meanings
between the two dialects or are even unknown or not used in one of them. For instance, words
such as “bill” (AmE paper money, BrE and AmE invoice) and “biscuit” (BrE cookie, AmE scone) are used
regularly in both AmE and BrE, but mean different things in each variety.

XX Words mainly used in American English

Speakers of BrE are likely to understand most AmE terms without any problem, although they would
generally not use them; as examples, “sidewalk”, “gas”, and “elevator”. Certain terms which are heard
less frequently in the UK, such as “semi” (articulated lorry), “stroller” (pram/pushchair) or “kitty-corner/
catty-corner” (diagonally opposite) are highly unlikely to be understood by most BrE speakers.

XX Education terms
In the UK, a student is said to “study”, to “read” or informally simply to “do” a subject. In the recent
past, the expression “to read a subject” was more common at the older universities such as Oxford
and Cambridge. In the US, a student “studies” or “majors in” a subject, although “concentration” or
“emphasis” is also used in some US colleges or universities to refer to the major subject of study. “To
major in” something refers to the student’s principal course of study, while “to study” may refer to any
class being taken. Students may also “major in” a subject in the UK as a part of degrees with modules
from two or more subjects.
At the tertiary or university level in BrE, each “module” is taught by a ”lecturer” or ”tutor”, while
”professor” is the job-title of a head of department, that is, there is only one Professor of English at the
university. In AmE, each ”class” is generally taught by a ”professor” (at some institutions, ”professor” is
a reserved title, with other members of the faculty being referred to as ”lecturers” or ”instructors” in a
way that more closely corresponds to the British English usage). In both BrE and AmE, anyone giving
an actual lecture is clearly, at that moment, a “lecturer”, whether or not they are also a professor, an
instructor, a tutor or indeed a special guest speaker. At the primary and secondary levels, the term
“teacher” is used instead in both varieties. The word “course” in AmE typically refers to the study of
a restricted topic over a limited period of time (such as a semester or term) and is equivalent to a
“module” at a British university. In the UK, a “course of study” is likely to refer to a whole program of
study, which may extend over several years, and be made up of any number of “modules”.
In the UK, a student is said to “sit” or “take” an exam, while in the US, a student “takes” an exam. The
expression He/She sits for an exam also arises in BrE, but only rarely in AmE. When preparing for an
exam, students “revise” (BrE) or “review” (AmE) what they have studied. In the UK, a teacher “sets” an
exam, while in the US, a teacher “writes” or “gives” an exam.
10 TEMARIO

2.3 Grammatical differences

XX Verb forms with collective nouns

In British English, collective nouns can take either singular or plural verb forms, according to whether
the emphasis is, respectively, on the body as a whole or on the individual members, although the
plural form is most often used. For instance, A committee was appointed… and The committee were
unable to… are correct sentences.
In American English, collective nouns are usually singular in construction: The committee was unable
to agree… American English, however, may use plural pronouns in agreement with collective
nouns: The team takes their seats, rather than The team takes its seats. The rule of thumb is that a group
acting as a unit is considered singular and a group of ”individuals acting separately” is considered
plural. However, such a sentence would most likely be recast as The team members take their seats.
Despite exceptions, the names of sports teams are usually treated as plurals even if the form of the
name is singular. The difference occurs for all nouns of multitude, both general terms such as “team”
and “company” and proper nouns (for example, where a place name is used to refer to a sports team).
For instance:
„„ BrE: The Clash are a well-known band; AmE: The Clash is a well-known band.
„„ BrE: New York are the champions; AmE: New York is the champion.

Proper nouns that are plural in form take a plural verb in both American and British English; for
example: The Beatles are a well-known band; The Giants are the champions.

XX Regular and irregular past verb forms

The past tense and past participle of the verbs learn, spoil, spell (only in the word-related sense),
burn, dream, smell, spill, leap, and others, can be either irregular (“learnt”, “spoilt”, etc.) or regular
(“learned”, ”spoiled”, etc.).
In British English, the irregular and regular forms are current; in some cases (“smelt”, “leapt”) there is
a strong tendency towards the irregular forms —especially by speakers using RP—, in other cases
(“dreamed”, “leaned”, “learned”), the regular forms are somewhat more common. In American English,
the irregular forms are never or rarely used (except for “burnt” and “leapt”). Nonetheless, as with other
uses identified to be typically British today, the “-t” endings are often found in older American texts.
However, usage may vary when the past participles are actually adjectives, as in “burnt toast”. Finally,
the past tense and past participle of dwell and kneel are more commonly “dwelt” and “knelt” on both
sides of the Atlantic, although “dwelled” and “kneeled” are widely used in the US, but not in the UK.
Some other verbs present irregular past forms, which are used differently in each case. As examples:
„„ “Lit” as the past tense of light is much more common than “lighted” in the UK; the regular form
enjoys more use in the US, although it is somewhat less common than “lit”.
„„ By contrast, “fit” as the past tense of fit is much more used in AmE than BrE, which generally favors
“fitted”.
„„ The past participle of saw is normally “sawn” in BrE and “sawed” in AmE.
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 11
66

„„ The past participle “gotten” is never used in modern BrE, which generally uses “got”, except in old
expressions such as “ill-gotten gains”. In AmE, “gotten” emphasizes the action of acquiring and
“got” tends to indicate simple possession (for example, Have you gotten it? versus Have you got it?).
“Gotten” is also typically used in AmE as the past participle for phrasal verbs using get.
„„ AmE, but not BrE, has “forgot” as a less common alternative to “forgotten” for the past participle
of forget.
„„ In BrE, the past participle “proved” is strongly preferred to “proven”; in AmE, “proven” is now about
as common as “proved”. Both dialects use “proven” as an adjective and in formulas such as “not
proven”.

XX Verb tense forms

The present perfect is less common in AmE than in BrE. AmE speakers often use the past simple in
situations where BrE speakers use the present perfect, especially with words such as “already” and
“yet”. For instance: What do you do with your free time? Did I already asked you that? (AmE) Have I already
asked you that? (BrE)
The past perfect is more common in AmE, especially in situations where the speaker sees one event
as happening before another in the past.
The subjunctive is regularly used in American English in mandative clauses, as in They suggested that
he apply for the job. In British English, this usage declined in the 20th century, in favour of constructions
such as: They suggested that he should apply for the job (or even, more ambiguously, They suggested
that he applied for the job).

XX Have got (to) and have (to)

In British English, “have got” or “have” can be used for possession and “have got to” and “have to” can
be used for the modal of necessity. The forms that include “got” are usually used in informal contexts
and the forms without “got” in contexts that are more formal.
In American speech the form without “got” is used more than in the UK, although the form with
“got” is often used for emphasis. Colloquial AmE informally uses got as a verb for these meanings, for
example, I got two cars, I got to go.

XX Shall and will; should and would

“Shall” (as opposed to “will”) is more commonly used by the British than by Americans. “Shan’t” is
seldom used in AmE (almost invariably replaced by “won’t” or “am not going to”), and very much less
so amongst Britons.
American grammar also tends to ignore some traditional distinctions between “should” and “would”.
However, expressions like I should be happy are rather formal even in British English.

1. How has the widespread usage of American English influenced British English?
2. Can you classify most of the differences between British and American English according
to the category of the words (nouns, verbs, etc.)?
3. How does spelling differ in both varieties of English?
12 TEMARIO

XX Prepositions
The two varieties of English also exhibit a few differences in their use of prepositions, which only
apply to a limited number of them. Here are some illustrative examples:
„„ In the US, the word “through” can mean “up to and including” as in Monday through Friday. In
the UK, Monday to Friday (inclusive) is used instead; Monday through to Friday is also sometimes
used.
„„ British athletes play “in a team” while American athletes play “on a team”. Both may play “for a
particular team”.
„„ In AmE, the use of the function word “out” as a preposition in “out the door” and “out the
window” is standard to mean “out through”. For example, in AmE, one jumps “out of a boat” by
jumping “out the porthole”, and it would be incorrect in standard AmE to jump “out the boat”
or climb “out of the porthole”. In BrE, “out of” is preferred in writing for both meanings, but “out”
is common in speech. Several other uses of “out of” are peculiarly British (out of all recognition,
out of the team); all of this notwithstanding, “out of” is overall more frequent in American than
in British English.
„„ In AmE, one always speaks of the street “on” which an address is located, whereas in BrE “in” can
also be used in some contexts. “In” suggests an address on a city street, so a petrol station (or
a tourist attraction or indeed a village) would always be “on” a major road, but a department
store might be “in” Oxford Street. Moreover, if a particular place on the street is specified, then
the preposition used is whichever is idiomatic to the place, thus “at the end of Churchill Road”.
„„ BrE favours the preposition “at” in “at (the) weekend(s)”, while the constructions “on”, ”over”, and
“during (the) weekend(s)” are found in both varieties but are all more common in AmE.
„„ Adding “at” to the end of a question requesting a location is common in AmE, for example,
Where are you at?, but would be considered superfluous in BrE.
„„ The noun “opportunity” can be followed by a verb in two different ways: “opportunity” plus
to-infinitive (the opportunity to do something) or “opportunity” plus “of” plus gerund (the
opportunity of doing something). The first construction is the most common in both dialects,
but the second has almost disappeared in AmE and is often regarded as a Briticism.
„„ Both British and Americans may say that a river is named “after” a state, but named “for” a state
would rightly be regarded as an Americanism.
„„ BrE sometimes uses “to” with “near” (We live near to the university), while AmE avoids the
preposition in most usages dealing with literal, physical proximity (We live near the university),
although the “to” reappears in AmE when “near” takes the comparative or superlative form, as
in: She lives nearer/nearest to his house.
„„ In BrE, one calls (or rings) someone “on” his or her telephone number; in AmE, one calls someone
“at” his or her telephone number.
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 13
66

XX Adverbs
Bearing in mind that adverb placement depends on the type of adverb, British speakers usually
place the adverb after the verb, while AmE changes the position of adverbs quite easily, sometimes
placing them before the verb and sometimes after it. This preference adds to some other differences
between American and British English:
„„ AmE speakers often use “good” (I’m good) where BrE prefers “well” (I’m well or I’m fine). However,
the AmE form is becoming more common in BrE, especially after greetings such as: How are you?,
How’s it going?
„„ AmE allows the use of “likely” as an adjective (in the same way as “probable”, “possible”, etc.), or as
an adverb (in the same way as “probably”, “possibly”, etc.). In BrE, “likely” is normally only used as
an adjective:
„„ In AmE There will likely be other announcements before the end of this year, “likely” is used as an
adverb; BrE prefers form There are likely to be.
„„ In AmE And what’s likely to happen?, “likely” is used as an adjective, also common in BrE.

„„ In informal spoken AmE, speakers often use “real” instead of “really” before an adjective: That’s real
funny. BrE prefers That’s really funny.

2.4 Numbers
When saying or writing out numbers, the British will typically insert an “and” before the tens and
units, as in one hundred and sixty-two or two thousand and three. In America, it is considered correct
to drop the “and”, as in two thousand three; however, this is rarely heard in everyday speech, two
thousand and three being much more common.
Some American schools teach students to pronounce decimally written fractions as though they
were longhand fractions, such as five hundred thirteen and seven tenths for 513.7. This formality is
often dropped in common speech, and it is steadily disappearing in teaching contexts. In the UK,
513.7 would generally be read five hundred and thirteen point seven, although if it were written 513
7⁄10, it would be pronounced five hundred and thirteen and seven tenths.
In counting, it is common in both varieties of English to count in hundreds up to 1,900, so 1,200 may
be twelve hundred. However, Americans use this pattern for much higher numbers than is the norm
in BrE, referring to twenty-four hundred where BrE would most often use two thousand four hundred.
Even below 2,000, Americans are more likely than the British are to read numbers like 1,234 as twelve
hundred thirty-four, instead of one thousand two hundred and thirty-four. In BrE, it is also common to
use phrases such as three and a half thousand for 3,500, whereas in AmE this construction is almost
never used for numbers under a million.
In the case of years, however, twelve thirty-four would be the norm on both sides of the Atlantic for
the year 1234. The year 2000 and years beyond it are read as two thousand, two thousand (and) one,
and the like, by both British and American speakers. For years after 2009, they are frequently said
twenty ten, twenty twelve, etc. by the BBC.
For the house or bus number 272, British people tend to say two seven two while Americans tend to
say two seventy-two.
When reading numbers in a sequence, such as a telephone or serial number, British people will
usually use the terms “double” or “triple/treble” followed by the repeated number. Hence, 007 is
double oh seven. Exceptions are the emergency telephone number 999, which is always nine nine
nine. The directory enquiries prefix 118 is also one one eight in Britain. In the US, the emergency
telephone number 911 is usually read nine one one.
14 TEMARIO

2.5 General trends

While the use of American expressions in the UK is often noted, movement in the opposite direction
is less common. But such words as “book” (meaning to reserve) and “roundabout” (otherwise called
traffic circle or rotary) are clearly current in American English, although often regarded as British.
Others, such as “go missing” (as an alternative to disappear), “bespoke” (for custom-made or made-
toorder), or “run-up” (for period preceding an event) are increasingly used in American English, and a
few (for instance, “early on”) are now completely standard.
Though the influence of cross-culture media has done much to familiarise British English and
American English speakers with each other’s regional words and terms, many words are still
recognised as part of a single form of English. Though the use of a British word would be acceptable
in American English (and vice versa), most listeners would recognise the word as coming from the
other form of English and treat it much the same as a word borrowed from any other language. For
instance, an American using the word “chap” or “mate” to refer to a friend would be heard in much the
same way as an American using the Spanish word “amigo”.

1. Can you identify the differences in the use of prepositions and adverbs between both
varieties of English?
2. What are the general trends that enable us to point out the differences between the two
varieties of English?
3. Which words are used in both languages but have different meaning?
4. Which education terms have different meanings in both parts of the Atlantic?
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 15
66

3 Anglicisms
The anglicisms are linguistic loans from the English language to another language. Often, they
are a product of deficient translations of printed material or spoken in English, and other times, it
happens the opposite: they are created by the nonexistence of an appropriate word that translates
a term or word in specific.
They are very common in the language used by adolescents —due to the influence that the
foreign mass media have on their way to speak— and in the technical language of sciences
and engineering, by the great contributions that the countries of English speech make to the
investigation and the development of new technology.
As regards to information about sport, anglicisms are becoming increasingly common. They are used
in direct proportion with the foreign origin of the sport, the newness of this sport between speakers
of Spanish and their internationalization. In the adaptation of the linguistic loans to the Spanish
language, one can speak of sport loans: in football (AmE “soccer”) the players have understood it
better to use the terminology of the language of origin (“goal”, “corner”, “football”, “shoot”). The prestige
of the players or personalities who come from English-speaking countries impels them to use these
terms without translating them. For example, in words like “golf”, “rugby”, “cricket”, “volleyball” and
“club”, the spelling and the pronunciation remain the same, although they are usually used with a
Spanish pronunciation.
In the pages of scientific and technological information in newspapers many loans appear. The
journalists use them because they think that, if translated, they would lose rigor or precision, and
because the translation implies the use of more words. Example: “syndrome of burnout” vs syndrome
of the burned worker; “Bluetooth” vs device of data transmission without cables; “blog” vs daily in the
network.
The economy is another section where there are many linguistic loans due, partly, to globalization.
At the moment, the economic information has a special section in all newspapers, not like before,
when it was a small box with stock-exchange information. There are many anglicisms, as English-
speaking countries —mainly the US— dominate the economy. Some of them have been adapted
to the Spanish language: “desinversión” (disinvestment), “co-insurance” (coinsurance), “estanflación”
(stagflation), “refinanciación” (refinancing) or “diseconomía” (diseconomy); while terms like “cash”,
“flow”, “trust”, “the dumping”, “holding” or “stock” remain the same.
In the pages dedicated to leisure, also the English terms appear, such as “thriller”, “sitcom”, “screening”,
“primetime”, “celebrity”, “reality show”, “singles”, and “hobby”.
In general, in all spheres of life there are many anglicisms which reflect the influence that the
American culture exerts in today’s world:
„„ The word “parking” is equivalent to BrE car park and AmE parking lot and its spelling has not been
made Spanish.
„„ “Parquear” (to park), “vacunar carpetas” (vacuum carpets) and “deliverar groserías” (delivering
groceries) come from English and are used in general in Latin America and in the US by Spanish
speakers.
„„ The widespread use of the English expression OK (written okay, ok or OK) can be replaced with
the agreement phrases “de acuerdo” or “perfecto”, among others.
„„ “Backstage” is a true anglicism, since its pronunciation is not adapted properly to the Spanish
language and there exist phrases with an identical meaning (“entre bambalinas”, for example).
„„ “Bacon” is a used English voice in Spain. In Latin America, the words “tocineta” and “bacon” are
used according to the type. In Argentina, “panceta” is used.
16 TEMARIO

4 The growth of English in Spain

The spread of English in Europe has followed a slower and somewhat different path which only
started to gather momentum after the Second World War. This linguistic expansion has been a
powerful promoter of both societal and individual bilingualism and multilingualism —and was
seen as a new phenomenon, at least, in Europe—.
Since 1945, Europe’s political, economic, social and cultural conditions have undergone far
reaching changes, some of which have altered the linguistic landscape considerably. For example,
we have seen a long overdue recognition of indigenous minority languages in countries such as
the Netherlands, Spain, and Britain, among others, and large-scale migration and immigration
has virtually affected all member states within the EU. Both these developments have resulted in
multilingualism and have brought about changes in language behaviour and policy. A further
major development affecting 21st century Europe is internationalization, which means, in effect,
the spread of English and its increased use for a variety of communicative functions by non-native
speakers.
In most European countries, English is of considerable importance in higher education. For
many academic careers, particularly medicine, the natural and social sciences, economic, politics,
media, and linguistics, a degree of competence in English is a prerequisite. Nearly all Europeans,
irrespective regardless of class and occupation, have had access to foreign learning at school, and
today, the first foreign language offered is nearly always English.
In fact, the growth in the study of English as a foreign language has proven to be a powerful
element in its diffusion. In 2020, in order to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,
educational institutions around the world closed down, potentially affecting 3.9 million
international and foreign students studying in OECD countries. However, according to UNESCO,
in 2019, there were 6 million international students, 976.853 in the US, 509.160 in Australia and
489.019 in the UK (33 % of world total international students).
Increasingly, in Spain there has been the growth of bilingual education by using English for all
or part of the students’ education. In 2021, according to the Spanish Ministry of Education, from
the 8.2 million students in CSE and non-CSE, 17,3 % of them are attending a bilingual school and
enrolled in a bilingual program, and 95 % of the students have chosen English as the second
learning language. At the moment, this trend in Spain is primarily affecting the children of people
who are already economically and socially quite influential. However, whenever an educational
advantage is possessed by a privileged majority, it becomes desirable for the majority and
eventually obtainable. Moreover, the schools that are designed with the linguistic and cultural
needs of bilingual children in mind must be good for multilingualism.
Dealing with teachers’ requirements to teach their subjects in English, there are also important
differences among regions or autonomous communities. Just a couple of examples, in Asturias and
in Andalusia, the teachers must have a CEFRL B2 level, which means fluency but not proficiency.
On the contrary, in Madrid, the required CEFRL level is C1, by which teachers are considered fluent
users of the language.
In Spain, English is visible in domains such as commerce, sport, entertainment, youth culture
and particularly tourism. Its increased status as an essential requirement has equally appeared
in areas such as films, television, music, and information and communication technology
(ICT). Bilingualism with English is therefore essentially found among communities containing
native speakers of English, and also among international communities and individuals who chose
English possibly for special purposes in the workplace.
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 17
66

Nowadays, English brings the promise of material gain, higher status and further prospects
of mobility, and so, it is a powerful motivator for maintaining and developing English after
schooling. In order to partake in Europe, both contributing to and benefiting from the EU politically,
economically and socially, it is desirable for Spain —and its citizens— to possess an appropriate
communicative competence in English.

1. Where do Anglicisms come from?

2. Can you identify some anglicisms in your own language?
3. Why has English spread into Spain in these years?
4. Why is English the language of culture?
18 TEMARIO

CONCLUSION
The continued spread of English today is both a consequence of and a contributor to globalization,
due to some factors as the growth in international trade and multinational corporations, the
widening reach of American mass media, the expanding electronic network created by the Internet,
and the linguistic impact of American culture.
In parallel, the growth in regional interactions promotes the spread of regional languages in a
multilingual society with its own distinctive functions. Reading advanced technical or economic
material may require literacy in a different language than checking a publication on Instagram,
Facebook or Twitter. Since languages are never rivals for the same societal function, English remains
as the global and international lingua franca for millions of people.
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 19
66

BIBLIOGRAPHY

„„ BIBLIOGRAPHY

Algeo, J. (2006). British or American English? A handbook of word and grammar patterns. Cambridge
University Press.
Aman, R. (2018). Decolonising intercultural education: Colonial differences, the geopolitics of knowledge,
and inter-epistemic dialogue. Routledge.
Byram, M. & Wagner, M. (2018). Making a difference: Language teaching for intercultural and
international dialogue”. Foreign Language Annals, 51.
Cantle, T. (2012). “Interculturalism: For the era of globalization, cohesion and diversity”. Political
Insight, 3.
Croucher, S. M., Sommier, M. & Rahmani. D. (2015). “Intercultural communication: Where we’ve been,
where we’re going, issues we face”. Communication Research and Practice, 11.
Crystal, D. (2003). English as a Global Language. Cambridge University Press.
Çelik, S. & Solak, E. (Eds.) (2021). “World Englishes and Culture in English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
Education”. Vizek, 33-55.
David, C. (1997). Divided by a Common Language: A Guide to British and American English. Mayflower
Press.
Gorlach, M. (2005). A Dictionary of European Anglicisms. A Usage Dictionary of Anglicisms in Sixteen
European Languages. Oxford University Press.
Jenkins, J. (2003). World Englishes: A Resource Book for Students. Routledge.
Jocelyn, H., Constanza, T., Christine, B. & East, M. (2019). “Shifting conceptualisations of foreign language
teaching in New Zealand: Students’ journeys towards developing intercultural capability”. Language
and Intercultural Communication, 6.
Palaiologou, N. & Gorski, P. C. (2017). “The evolution of intercultural and multicultural education:
Scholarship and practice for new sociopolitical and economic realities”. Intercultural Education,
28(4).
Risager, K. (2011). The cultural dimensions of language teaching and learning. Language Teaching.
R’Boul, H. (2020). “Re-imagining intercultural communication dynamics in TESOL: Culture/
interculturality”. Journal for Multicultural Education, 142.
Trudgill, P. (2003). A Glossary of Sociolinguistics. Oxford University Press.
20 TEMARIO

„„ WEBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.unesco.org/es
UNESCO.
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/home
Eurostat: the home of high-quality statistics and data on Europe.
https://www.educacionyfp.gob.es/
Spanish Ministry of Education.
https://www.britannica.com
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.ccjk.com/how-many-people-speak-english-in-the-world/
CCJK: How Many People Speak English in the World?
https://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/groups/English-speaking-countries
English speaking countries: statistical profile.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_and_British_English_differences
Comparison of American and British English.
http://esl.about.com/od/toeflieltscambridge/a/dif_ambrit.htm
General differences between American and British English.
http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/blbritam.htm
American English to British English vocabulary.
http://www.learnenglishfeelgood.com/usukenglish/index.html
Vocabulaty differences: American and British English.
 LENGUA EXTRANJERA: INGLÉS 21
66

SUMMARY/OUTLINE
The cultural dimension of the English language in the world. Differences between
British and American English.
Anglicisms.
The growth of the English language in Spain.

1. British English and American English 2. Differences between British English

„„ English Language expansion due to British trade and and American English
colonization. Most of the differences between them involve vocabulary,
„„ Differences between British and American English: pronunciation and spelling, although there are also some
vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, grammar, differences in the way grammar is used, including verbs,
punctuation, idioms, dates, numbers, and so on. prepositions and adverbs.
„„ Noah Webster wrote the first American dictionary
(published 1828).
2.1. Spelling and pronunciation differences

1.1. English language in the world „„ Spelling of some words: color (AmE) colour (BrE).
„„ Words ending in -er in AmE (center); -re in BrE (centre).
„„ British and American English are the reference norms for
„„ Past tense of a verb, while ed may be used in American
English as spoken, written, and taught in the rest of the
English, t is common in British English: dreamed and
world.
dreamt.
„„ The English-speaking members of the Commonwealth
„„ Many times, although words are spelled the same in both
closely follow British English forms.
varieties, they may have a different pronunciation.

1.2. English language in the United States XXRhotic and non-rhotic speech
of America „„ Rhotic accents pronounce /r/ in final position (before a
pause) and before a consonant. Most accents of American
„„ American English written forms are fairly well standardized English and the dialects from the south-west and north-
across the US. west of England are considered rhotic.
„„ An unofficial standard for spoken American English has „„ Non-rothic (or “r” dropping) accents only pronounce
developed; it is generally called General American English /r/ before vowels. Eastern and central England accents
or network English. (including BBC English) and the dialect spoken in a
„„ Four major regional variations of spoken American number of places on the eastern seaboard of the US are
English: Northern (really north-eastern), Southern, non-rhotic.
Midland, and Western.
„„ After the American Civil War, the settlement of the 2.2. Vocabulary differences
western territories by migrants from the east caused the
leveling of regional accents. „„ Most differences are in connection with new concepts;
slang or vulgar terms, and idiomatic phrases, including
phrasal verbs. Regional variations, both in the US and in
1.3. English language in the United Kingdom the UK, can create the same problems.
„„ Dialects and accents vary not only between the countries „„ Many British people are starting to use some American
in the United Kingdom: England, Northern Ireland, nouns.
Scotland and Wales, but also within these individual
countries. XXWords with different meanings
„„ South-east English has traditionally been regarded as XXWords mainly used in American English
‘proper English’; this is also referred to as Oxford English,
BBC English or the Queen’s English. XXEducation terms
„„ This form of speech, also known as Received
Pronunciation (RP), is actually used by a small percentage
of the population.
22 TEMARIO

2.3. Grammatical differences 3. Anglicisms

„„ Verb forms with collective nouns. „„ Linguistic loans from the English language to another
„„ Regular and irregular past verb forms. language.
„„ Verb tense forms. „„ Common in: the language used by the adolescents and in
„„ Have got (to) and have (to). the technical language of sciences and engineering.

„„ Shall and will; should and would. „„ Anglicisms: shorts, jeans, gloss, lifting, celebrity and
shopping.
„„ Prepositions.
„„ Linguistic loans to Spanish: in sports terminology (goal, to
„„ Adverbs. corner, football, shoot).
„„ Technology: syndrome of burnout - syndrome of the
2.4. Numbers burned worker; Bluetooth - device of data transmission
without cables; blog - daily in the network.
„„ British and before the tens and units, as in one hundred
and sixty-two or two thousand and three; Americans drop „„ Economy: desinversión (desinvestment), co-insurance
the and. (coinsurance), estanflación (stagflation), refinanciación
(refinancing) or diseconomía (diseconomy). But terms like
„„ In counting, it is common in both varieties of English to cash, flow, trust, the dumping, holding or stock remain the
count in hundreds up to 1,900, so 1,200 may be twelve same.
hundred. Americans use this pattern for much higher
numbers like 1,234 as twelve hundred thirty-four, instead of „„ In all spheres of life there are many anglicisms which
one thousand two hundred and thirty-four. reflect the influence that the American culture exerts
in today’s world: parking, parquear, vacunar carpetas,
„„ In the case of years, however, twelve thirty-four would be deliverar groserías, OK (okay), backstage, bacon, etc.
the norm on both sides of the Atlantic for the year 1234.
„„ House number 272, British people tend to say two seven
two while Americans tend to say two seventy-two. 4. The growth of English in Spain
2.5. General trends „„ The spread of English: after WWII has been a powerful
promoter of both societal and individual bilingualism and
„„ The use of American expressions in the UK is often noted, multilingualism in Europe.
while the use of British expressions in US is less common. „„ Multilingualism in Europe has brought about changes in
„„ Words as “book” (meaning to reserve) and “roundabout” language behaviour and policy.
(traffic circle or rotary) are clearly current in AmE. „„ A major development affecting 21st c. Europe is
„„ Others, such as “go missing” (as an alternative to internationalization, with the spread of English and its
disappear), “bespoke” (for custom-made or made-toorder), increased use for a variety of communicative functions by
or “run-up” (for period preceding an event) are increasingly non-native speakers.
used in AmE, and a few are now completely standard. „„ In most European countries, English is of considerable
„„ The influence of cross-culture media has helped to importance in higher education.
familiarise BrE and AmE speakers with each other’s „„ At the moment, Spain has increased English instruction
regional words and terms. at all levels and there has been a growth in bilingual
education.
„„ English is visible in domains such as commerce, sport,
entertainment, youth culture and particularly tourism in
Spain.
„„ English is therefore essentially found among communities
containing native speakers of English in Spain.
„„ In Spain, English brings the promise of material gain,
higher status and further prospects of mobility.
PREPARACIÓN COMPLETA Y FLEXIBLE
Todas las pruebas o las que tú elijas. Cursos completos, avanzados o intensivos.
Y tres modalidades para asegurarte la preparación que mejor se adapta a tu perfil
como opositor.

1 EN NUESTRAS ACADEMIAS
En las clases presenciales
trabajamos en grupos reducidos,
fomentando la participación
y aprovechando las ventajas
del aprendizaje colaborativo
en la preparación de oposiciones.

2 CLASES ONLINE EN DIRECTO

La modalidad más valorada por su ventajas
y excelentes resultados. Participa en las
3 ONLINE SIN CLASES
Con un plan de estudio, incluyendo
simulacros y ensayo de la prueba oral,
clases en tiempo real como en la academia el Campus online más completo y un
y vuelve a ver las sesiones grabadas tutor online para corregir tus tareas
cuando quieras. y responder tus dudas.

Infórmate ahora en www.cen.edu o llamando al 911 365 264

DA EL PRIMER PASO
PARA CONSEGUIR TU PLAZA DE PROFESOR/A

AUMENTA TU NOTA FINAL

Suma puntos a tu baremo de forma sencilla con nuestros cursos 100% online,
certificados por UNIR, la Universidad Internacional de La Rioja.
Consulta el catálogo de cursos en www.cenhomologados.com

CenOposiciones

@cenoposiciones

CEN Oposiciones